Nine People
by Sheep01
Summary: Cloud Strife remembers. A series of drabbles in one documents without the 012 cast, sorry.


Hi, it's me, and this is going to be my second fic. This is going to be a Dissidia fanfic, staring Cloud, who is not my favorite but after playing Final Fantasy VII several times and always seeing Clouds face you kind of get used to seeing his face and listening to himself monologue.

Warnings; Hints of yaoi, maybe, I don't know…and maybe some OOC? We'll see.

Disclaimer; Not mine.

-Nine people Cloud Strife Remembers-

Cloud remembers. He remembers a lot of things, despite his memories getting all mixed up with his dead best friends and going through hell and back.

There was one set of memories that Cloud especially remembers. They involved nine people Cloud was sure he met but wasn't entirely sure.

-_The first person_

The first one was a man in blue, gold and black armor. His hair was silver, and he was one of the few people that had that shade that did not want to kill him. He was often blank faced, and kind of cold, but he was a good, honest leader.

The Warrior of Light. That was his title, his name, and Cloud had trusted him to lead their small group into battle against a set of psychos that only Hojo could have cooked up.

Cloud's first meeting of the man was a odd one, to say the least. He had woken up in a almost white place, with a ominous grey cloud background in the sky, and green tendrils lighting the way. In the center was a throne, which no one sat.

Getting up, Cloud glanced around the around the area. He didn't see very many people. Little groups of people surrounded the area, and Cloud could only count ten in all (including himself). Beside the ruined throne stood a man. The Warrior of Light.

Cloud stood, and he could hear the others around him doing the same. He stood behind the group of warriors, and watched as the Warrior turned around to face their enemies.

As usual, a fight broke out. After Cosmos, the goddess Cloud and the others were fighting for, gave the ok, the ten of them charged off into battle. Cloud was doing well, he thought any ways. He was fighting a man larger than himself, with a sword larger than Cloud and the Onion Knight together. He was helping several others try and take him down the horned menace, when Cloud was knocked on his back after the man-demon-monster-thing had clipped with that impossible sword.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Glancing up he saw the Warrior of Light, beaten. He had taken a lot of damage, one of the horns on his helmet was crooked, and a bruise was forming on his cheek.

"Continue fighting, my comrade. The battle will be over soon," The Warrior of light said, before charging into battle against the forces of Chaos. Cloud found himself nodding, and fallowing behind to protect Terra and the others.

…

Okay so that wasn't really a meeting, but Cloud never remembered being formally introduced to the leader. After the battle they were all spread out across the continent, and Cloud had joined up with Firion, Cecil and Tidus.

-_The second person_

Cloud really liked Firion.

He was down to earth, strong and could take care of himself. And the others when Cloud was too busy with himself to really notice what the hell was going on.

Firion was a good man. He was always willing to help, no matter if it interrupted his own journey and dreams. He was willing to help Cloud when Cloud was having trouble with his own goals. He was honest, a bit naïve, and dedicated.

Cloud remembered that after he had gained his crystal and had, along with Tidus, saved Firion, a small talk the two shared.

They were heading to the teleportation stone. Tidus and Cecil had run ahead, and Cloud had noticed that Firion had fallen behind. Turning around, he saw Firion, walking slowly in deep thought. Cloud waited until he was only a few feet away so he could ask, "Something wrong?"

Firion stopped walking and blinked. His brown eyes widen slightly, before he sighed and answered. "No, not really. I was just…thinking."

"About what?"

"Well," the other shifted his weight, and Cloud could hear the many weapons shifting on his shoulder. "I was thinking about what happens after we all get our crystals, and defeat Chaos." He shifted his weight again. "I was thinking that after we defeat Chaos and his minions, where do we go? Do we return to where we should? I don't remember where I belong, who my friends were, or if I had any friends to begin with. And then I was thinking that…" His eyes became down cast. "What if I go back, and I forget my adventures here? With all of you? I would feel horrible if I did. You all have become important to me, and while I would like to have my memories of before I came here returned I would like to keep the memories I have here." Firion looked to Cloud for comfort, and Cloud gulped.

What could he say? At the time he didn't know he would be keeping his memories of this little adventure, and he didn't even know that they would survive their encounter with Chaos. But he had to try and comfort Firion.

"I don't know what will happen to us after we leave here Firion. I don't know if you or I will remember this," He made a motion to the area around himself, and Firion watched him closely. "or if we'll remember who we were before this, but if whether we do or don't I think that we'll be okay. That you'll be okay. You'll have people who will help you. And if you don't, and you still remember what happens here you can think about what happened, you can think about us, your friends, and you'll be all right." Cloud felt a little rusty, talking without so many pauses, like how he talked to Terra.

He watched as Firion closed his in thought, before opening them and giving Cloud, and hopeful smile. "Thank you Cloud, and you're right, even if I don't remember everything, what happened here in this world or what happened there in that world, I'll still have memories of something, and that thought gives me comfort. So thank you Cloud."

"No problem," Cloud mumbled.

"Well we should get going, Tidus is looking impatient." And with that the heart felt conversation was over, but Firion did look better. He walked straighter, and he seemed more relaxed, like some kind of weight was lifted off of him. Cloud felt his lips twitch up in a smile, something he hadn't done in forever, and stopped him self. Shaking his head, Cloud fallowed the other towards the teleportation stone.

-_the third person_

Okay, becoming the Onion Knight's adopted big brother was not his idea. It was Terra's.

The idea had been planted into her head when the two had been wandering around the Melmond fields or whatever looking for the others. All three had gained their crystals, and were hoping to find someone who had theirs.

The Onion Knight was talking about something Cloud was sure no one really cared about, he himself was only half listening, when a Transient Witch had charged them. As usual, the Onion Knight had thrown himself in front of the attack to protect Terra, and was hit with the three axe things (Cloud really had to ask Squall what the hell those things were.) Blood was shed, and Cloud managed to cut the crystal thing in half before it could summon more magic. That damn Apocolaspe attack was hard to dodge, especially when he couldn't free dash out in the fields like he could when he was in the gateways.

"Are you all right?" He asked the small knight, who just nodded.

"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting a attack," Onion mumbled standing. He held his chest, checking to see how deep the wounds were, and smiled reassuringly at Terra. "I'm fine. See? They're just scratches." He moved his hand out of the way, and the wounds didn't appear deep, so both of the adults let it go.

A little while later, while they were wandering the Cornelia grounds the Onion Knight collapsed with a grunt. He had been lead the three warriors, with Cloud taking up the rear, and Terra comfortably between them.

When the knight collapsed, Terra let out a little yelp, and Cloud came rushing forward. Onion was pale, and was holding his chest. He gave Cloud a sheepish smile when the elder gave him a stern look. "Okay, so they might have been a little deeper than I said before." He chuckled a bit, then coughed. "Ow…"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Terra cried, kneeling beside the boy.

"I…"

"You shouldn't have kept this to your self," Cloud said, helping the boy sit up. "We could have done something about this earlier, and what would have happened if we got attacked again? You would have been even more injured and could have died."

The Onion Knight looked away in embarrassment, his cheeks puffing out in a pout and a bright red. Cloud sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Luckily there's a moogle near by, and he should be able to give us a cure," Cloud mumbled picking the boy up and setting him on his back like he was giving the other a piggy back ride.

"H-Hey! I can walk!" The boy squawked. Cloud ignored him, and continued walking. He heard Terra giggle.

"What?"

"Oh," Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment at being caught giggling before she said, "I was just thinking that you two were like brothers. Arguing, and being protective. It's cute."

"What? We're not…" The Onion knight began to protest, but quitted down. Cloud only sighed.

Cloud liked the Onion knight, not like he liked Firion, and okay, he may have humored the idea of the two being brothers, but he couldn't help shake the feeling that the Onion knight didn't share the same feelings. It was like he already believed he had a brother! Cloud respected that, but still tried his best to take some of the pressure of being a warrior of Cosmos after the hole incident.

It was like taking care of Denzel. An annoying Denzel.

…

(Cloud has decided he liked kids when they worship the ground he walks upon and doesn't question him.)

-_The fourth person_

Clouds best memory of Cecil, other than when he convinced Cloud to go off on his to look for a reason to fight, was when they were in the Planet's Core, after a particularly grueling manikin match.

They were standing on one of the floating pieces of land. Cecil was in Dark knight mode, so it was hard to tell what the man was thinking about or what he was feeling. You had to judge what he was feeling by the tone of his voice.

"Hey Cloud," the dark knight began, those blank white eyes that the helmet used staring at him.

"Yeah?"

"Do you…" Cecil looked away, shyness taking over him briefly, before he looked back at Cloud. "Do you think that those manikins, the ones of people not here, do you think that they were our friends?"

Cloud looked away from the dark knight and at the main fighting stage. There was a large crater where a Delirious Dragoon had once been smashed into, but the body had disintegrated once the battle had been presumed over.

"Yes," He said. He could feel Cecil's eyes burning into his skull with questions. He sighed, and explained himself. "I don't think they were people who fought for Chaos. I…One of them seems familiar to me."

"Which?"

"The Imaginary Brawler. She… whoever she is in real life, she's important to me," Cloud admitted.

"I understand. The enemy we just faced, he must have been someone important to me. Every time we clashed, I felt I was attacking one of you, one of my close friends." Cloud nodded, and Cecil continued. "I wonder who he was to me. A friend? A trusted companion in whatever mission I was apart before this? It makes my head spin, these questions. I wonder if that's how the others must feel, when they see these manikins." Cecil looked up, into the never ending void of greenness that often made Cloud uncomfortable. Cloud had always felt like there had to be something up there, something ready to save him and his friends from the planets core. "I guess we wont know until all of this is over." Cecil smiled behind the helmet and looked at Cloud.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed.

They then moved on, hoping to catch up with Firion and the others before they fell to far behind.

-_The fifth person_

Cloud was actually glad he spent most of his time avoiding Bartz. Well, it was more or less like dumping him off on Squall (who was more or less like the mom towards the other brunnette) and Zidane (who didn't seem to mind.). The guy was always touching his hair and calling him Boko! He wasn't a chocobo damnit!

But…he didn't mind the others cheerfulness, and the way he didn't seem to mind not having a true purpose in the war. Things that bothered Cloud, or Firion or even Squall seemed to slide off the others back. He always had a smile on his face, which made him look years younger.

Bartz had worries of course. He worried about his friends, Squall and Zidane especially, and was afraid of heights.

Cloud found this out in a strange twist of fate.

Somehow the two had been paired together in the Void Castle thing. It was probably Squalls idea, since he had just walked off with Zidane and left Cloud there. With Bartz. Who was still touching his hair!

"Your hair is so cool! It looks exactly like Boko! Has anyone told you your hair looks like a chocobo? Do you have chocobos in your world? If you do and you have your own we should totally race! My Boko would win of course but I'm sure yours would put up a good fight!" He heard Bartz laugh as if this was funny.

Cloud grunted in irritation. This. Had. To. Stop. Lifting his arm up he pushed Bartz away. Hard. He winced a little, he hadn't meant to push Bartz that hard, but when he reminded him self of when Bartz had been petting his hair he pushed away the guilt.

Until he heard crying.

Looking around confused, he saw that Bartz was at the edge of the castle side. He was bent over, hands gripping the tights on his knees so tight the knuckles were turning white. His legs were shaking, and Cloud would bet he looked like a terrified child if Cloud could have seen Bartzs face. Walking over to Bartz he stared at him with a blank look.

"Everything all right?"

"Yeah…" Bartz said shaking staring down the side of the castle wall. He was looking a bit green.

"…"

"O…okay, so I'm not okay," Bartz let out a shy laugh. He was beginning to sweat. "I…I'm afraid."

"Of….?"

"Heights. I…get y'know, sick if I look over the edge of something. Stairs, castle walls. The worst is when I'm fighting on the Planets Core. I…don't tell Zidane, or Squall they don't know." Bartz said, still staring down the edge of the walls. He wasn't even trying to move away from the walls, which made Cloud wonder if he was paralyzed. Reaching over he gently touched Bartzs shoulder, making him scream and pull away. "D-Don't! I'll fall!"

"I was just trying to help you," Cloud said. Bartz didn't say anything. "I get motion sickness."

"What?"

"When I'm fighting some of the more active enemies, like the Onion Knight manikin or the Cecil one, I get sick. They move too much, and I get sick."

"Uh…why are you telling me this?" Bartz asked, looking away from the edge and at Cloud.

"You're not the only one with phobias, and I figured since I know your secret you should know mine," Cloud said turning away from Bartz. "C'me on, we'll lose the others and more of those manikins will show up if we don't move."

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Bartz smiled and ran after him.

-_The sixth person_

Terra was like a little sister. A innocent, gentle sister that probably shouldn't have even been in the conflict. She was too soft, emotional for some of the things the others did. That didn't stop her from doing her job in the war. Along with the Onion Knight Cloud had grown protective of her. Not nearly to the degree that the kid had, but just enough to make sure she was always safe. Terra could take care of herself, her magic was better than all of the warriors of Cosmos, and after defeating Kefka and gaining her crystal she had gained a level of confidence.

One time she had even protected him.

They were fighting the Imaginary Hero. A Sephiroth clone. Cloud had already taken a lot of damage so Onion and Terra wouldn't have too, they were rather close to finding another warrior of Cosmos. If he could just hold the enemy off until the others showed up…

"Cloud look out!" He heard Terra shout. He narrowly dodged the clones attack, only a little bit of his skin was cut off. He was about to cut the things head off when Terra came out of no where and cut the things head off with her rarely used sword. Cloud could only stare as the girl floated there for a few minutes before turning to look at him. "Are you okay Cloud?"

"Yeah…are you?" Cloud asked, watching as the body disintegrated.

"Uh-huh. I was just worried about you," Terra smiled shyly. "I know you probably could have handled it yourself, but I wanted to protect you."

"…Thanks, but don't put yourself in danger for me," Cloud said as Terra landed on the piece of land that was floating in the air.

"Okay, I'll try not to." She giggled. "Hey Cloud, do you think I'm pretty?"

What? (He forgot that she had asked.) "What brought this on?"

"I was just thinking about those female manikins. They must be real pretty in real life don'tcha think? And those two on Chaos's side, Ultimecia and the Cloud of Darkness, they're evil but pretty. I was just wondering if I was too," She looked at Cloud shyly. "Zidane is always telling me how pretty I am but I was wondering if anyone else thought that I was pretty."

Cloud could only stare. This was the reason he wasn't as interested as girls as he should be. They were always interested in their looks and what others thought of them, unlike guys, who were pretty much-take-me-as-you-see-me, unless there was a pretty girl with nice legs involved. Then (most) men turned into idiots. Including himself.

"Terra," Cloud began, staring into her expectant blue eyes. "Terra you're very pretty. I don't know why you're suddenly concerned about that, but you are." Cloud said.

Terra grinned. "Thank you, Cloud."

"Yeah…you're welcome."

-_The seventh person_

Squall Leonhart. There wasn't much to say about the teen. He was a teen, one of the younger ones. And yes, he was one of the younger ones. There was Onion, the youngest, then Zidane, then Squall. Yep, Mr. Big bad Leonhart was one of the youngest, but one of the smartest warriors from that world. His eyes, a cold grey were always thinking, always planning. Sometimes they showed shock and expressed his annoyance, but most of the time they were focused on the battle ahead.

Cloud wasn't afraid of the kid. The kid was just some guy with a leather fetish and a fancy blade. Nothing special.

Cloud could remember that the two were never one for conversation. Cloud could never come up with something to say to the younger and Squall just wasn't a talker. They spent their time together fighting the manikins. But at the end of the war, nearing the final battle against Chaos when they had some downtime. And they talked.

"Aren't you hot with that jacket on?" Cloud asked. They were on the hellish continent, with it's lava rivers and nearly 100 degrees temperature.

Squall glared at him. "No." He then looked away. Cloud sighed. "…"

"…"

"…Can't you go bother someone else?"

"I'm just standing here," Cloud mumbled, glaring at the scarred man. Cloud's eyes focused on the scar marring Squalls face. Everyone in the party had wondered how Squall got the wound, but Squall had never told them. Either he didn't know or he just didn't want to tell them. Knowing Squall it was probably both.

"Stop staring," Squall ordered after a minute.

"What?"

"My scar, I already get enough staring from Zidane and Bartz I don't need you staring at it too," Squall mumbled.

"Oh, sorry,"

"…" Squall looked out into the nasty area. "You're a strange guy."

"I'm strange?"

The scarred teen glared at him. Cloud stared at him, and he saw Squall sigh. "Are you expecting me to do something?"

"No."

"If you're expecting me to bare my soul you're going to be disappointed," Squall mumbled. Cloud nodded. "I'm not worried about what's going to happen at the end. If we win, and we're not returned to our original worlds, I'll adapt. I'll fit into wherever we are. I'm not afraid of what happens."

"That's good. I don't think I'm that prepared if we're not returned," Cloud said. "But I believe we'll be fine."

"You and about everyone else that's still alive here."

Cloud sighed and nodded. "Light is ready to move out. C'me on." he didn't bother to look back, because he heard Squall fallowing him.

-_The eighth person._

Cloud stared at the womanizers tail. It went back and forth, and Cloud scowled as it accidentally hit him again. Finally he reached his irritation reached his breaking point, and he reached out and grabbed that tail.

"Ye-OUCH! What the hell Cloud?" Zidane snapped, tugging his tail out of the blondes grip. Cloud stared at him. "Oh great, now you're not going to talk, lucky me."

"You were hitting me," Cloud said.

"No I wasn't."

"Yes, you were," Cloud felt his eyebrow twitch.

"No, I-maybe I was. Anyways, what are you thinking about?" Cloud stared at him. Zidane, like Yuffie, was always curious, always ready for the next adventure, and always the biggest pain in Clouds ass when the two got together. Sure, Zidane was more mature than Bartz, but he was just as childish, just as silly. Cloud wondered how Squall put up with the two, and decided that Squall had to have had someone like Zidane and Bartz on his own world.

Zidane huffed when Cloud made no noise of recognition. "Fine, don't talk then." Looking around, Cloud watched as Zidanes face spilt in two. "Well, look at Terra, all pretty. Man, I wish she'd take off those tights. I'm sure she has nothing to hide. I bet she has pretty, long white legs. I-"

Cloud's fist connected with Zidanes head. He watched as the boy fell to the ground, knocked out.

Perv.

-_the ninth person_

When Cloud first met Tidus, he wasn't sure how to react to him. He was always smiling, fiercely protective of his friends and was extremely hyper. More so than Yuffie, or the amazing Zack Fair. And that was saying something.

They had met through Firion. He, along with Cecil and Cloud, had been looking for survivers from the previous war, and hours later they had met up at the Lunar Subterranean. Cecil and Cloud had come back empty handed, and when they had met up they heard the rather loud, obnoxious voice of their new companion.

"…And then I was like 'Oh please like you could beat me?' and I completely bashed that manikins head in. Too bad it wasn't my old man. I would've pounded his face in," The voice said. Both the knight and the mercenary turned to look at their friend Firion. Beside him was a another blonde who was pretty much bouncing where he stood. "Hey Firion are these the guys you were talking about?"

"Yeah," Firion looked over at Cloud and Cecil. "Cecil, Cloud, this is Tidus. Tidus, this is Cecil and Cloud."

Tidus grinned and eagerly shook hands with the two. "hey, nice to meet the two of you. Firion told me you guys were all traveling together and I was wondering if it was okay if I came along to. I mean, I'm not scared or anything," He stood a little taller, as if expecting anyone to challenge him. Cloud raised a eyebrow at him, and Cloud was sure that Cecil was doing the same. "but I figured it would be safer if all of us stayed together."

"That would be fine," Cecil spoke first. "you seem like a strong warrior, and I would be honored to have you fight on my side." Cecil was grinning behind the helmet, Cloud could tell, and he watched as Tidus grinned.

"Cool," Tidus looked at Cloud, who only stared back.

"C'me on, let's go before the manikins show up." Cloud said, walking away from the boys confused face.

A few hours later Cloud found himself walking beside Tidus.

"So, are you always this y'know, down in the dumps?" Tidus asked when Firion and Cecil were a feet ahead.

"Hm?"

"Well I mean you're always so quite that it's kind of weird. I mean, what's going through that mind of yours? Are you even in there?" Tidus began waving a hand in front of Clouds face. Cloud felt himself twitch. "Hellooooo? Are you in there? Earth to Cloud," Cloud scowled and knocked the hand away. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Your hand was bothering me," At the time Cloud was wondering why this seemed familiar (now he knew that it was because Zack had done something familiar.).

"Oh, well you could have said something," Tidus mumbled pouting a bit. After a few seconds he grinned. "Anyways, what's got ya so down all the time?"

"Nothing,"

"You need to smile more, that's what you need to do! I'm sure when you start smiling, everything will be so much better than you!" Tidus laughed. Cloud raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're strange," Cloud said, before moving past the ace.

"What? Hey get back here so I can kick your ass Cloudy!"

Those were the nine people Cloud remembered from that world. And while he was surrounded by people who love him in this world, he still felt lonely. Like he missed all of those people.

-end story-

Yep, this is my story. Hoped you liked it.

The easiest thing was Onion and Firions stories, the hardest was Squalls and Zidanes.

Funny thing my computer thinks Ultimecia is Multimedia.


End file.
